Patna, Feb. 9: Passengers on the Asansol-Mumbai Weekly Express were robbed of their belongings worth around Rs 20 lakh late on Monday night, the fifth in a series of such attacks on trains passing through Bihar in a little over two months.

Police said at least 12 robbers armed with countrymade pistols and other weapons boarded the train at Jasidih in Jharkhand. They stayed put till Mokama, around 100km away. Soon after the train left Mokama around midnight, they went on a looting spree. Over a 40km-distance, the robbers looted 10 bags containing cash, ornaments and other valuables from AC three-tier passengers before alighting near Bakhtiyarpur railway station in Patna rural. Most of the passengers struck by the robbers were in the B1 coach.

The passengers said the robbers were aged between 18 and 20 years. They alighted at the Bakhtiyarpur station, 40km from Mokama, after pulling the alarm chain. The passengers reported the matter when the train arrived at Patna Junction around 1.30am.

The victims lodged a complaint with Patna government railway police station, which was subsequently forwarded to the Bakhtiyarpur GRP for further action.

Nidhi Jaiswal, one of the passengers on the train, said she lost her handbag which had Rs 6,000, cellphone and jewellery. Another passenger, Rajesh Kumar, said more than 10 passengers were assaulted with revolver butts and iron rods when they resisted the robbery bid. Sources claimed the men stole valuables worth around Rs 20 lakh.

Jaiswal also alleged that there was no police escort on the train. Patna rail superintendent of police Prakash Nath Mishra said the GRP received information about the robbery around 1.30am. "I immediately asked the rail deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Anant Kumar Rai, to rush to the site and pursue the robbers," he said.

He although admitted that the train was running without a police escort. "After Kiul, the train doesn't stop till Patna Junction and generally, Railway Protection Force personnel escort the train from there on," he said.

A special team headed by Mokama GRP officer P.K. Rai has been set up to probe the incident. DSP (rail) Rai has been asked to monitor the probe.

Mishra also visited Bakhtiyarpur railway station early on Monday morning. He said some goods abandoned by the robbers were recovered from Jai Prakash Halt near Athmalgola railway station, around 50km east of Patna and 10-12km from Bakhtiyarpur.

The late-night robbery has left Indian Railways red-faced. Sources said two robberies were reported last month. On January 4, a group looted cash and valuables worth Rs 10 lakh from passengers of the Chhapra-Tata Express near Dadnagar Halt on the Bihar-Jharkhand border.